HUD Archives: News Releases

ATLANTA - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded $5,454,256 to fourteen new homeless programs in Georgia. The grants announced today are an investment in local projects which have never received HUD homeless funds in the past, providing critically needed housing and support services to homeless individuals and families. The grants announced today are in addition to $25,411,127 HUD awarded in January to renew funding to 137 existing Georgia homeless housing and service projects/programs.

HUD is awarding new grants to the following Georgia local homeless programs:

Georgia

Atlanta

Action Ministries, Inc.

SHP

$244,587

Athens

Athens/Clarke County

SHP

$28,080

Atlanta

Crossroads Community Ministries, Inc.

SHP

$314,228

Atlanta

Fulton County Board of Commissioners

SHP

$300,000

Brunswick

Gateway Community Service Board

SHP

$350,406

Atlanta

Georgia Housing & Finance Authority

S+C

$497,160

Atlanta

Georgia Housing & Finance Authority

S+C

$457,080

Atlanta

Georgia Housing & Finance Authority

S+C

$1,167,900

Jonesboro

House of Dawn, Inc

SHP

$123,060

Sandy Springs

Mary Hall Freedom House, Inc.

SHP

$287,254

Atlanta

Quest 35, Inc.

SHP

$504,000

Cuthbert

Southwest Georgia Housing Development Corp.

SHP

$185,868

Cuthbert

Southwest Georgia Housing Development Corp.

SHP

$477,149

Atlanta

The Salvation Army, a Georgia Corporation

SHP

$517,484

Georgia Total

$5,454,256

"Today, we build on this Administration's goal to prevent and end homelessness in America," said Donovan. "This funding will make a significant impact in the lives of thousands of people and provide resources to put them on the road of independence."

"It is hard to find encouragement when living where there are no walls but all doors seem closed to you. This funding provides a pivotal service to families and individuals in dire circumstances, so they can count on shelter and basic services to start over, recover hope and find their way again," said Ed Jennings Jr., HUD Southeast Regional Administrator.

HUD's Continuum of Care grants fund a wide range of transitional and permanent housing programs as well as supportive services such as job training, case management, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and child care. Street outreach and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for homeless persons and families are also funded through these grants.

Continuum of Care programs include:

Supportive Housing Program (SHP) offers housing and supportive services to allow homeless persons to live as independently as possible.

Shelter Plus Care (S+C) provides housing and supportive services on a long-term basis for homeless persons with disabilities, (primarily those with serious mental illness, chronic problems with alcohol and/or drugs, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or related diseases) and their families who were living in places not intended for human habitation (e.g., streets) or in emergency shelters.

Last year, 19 federal agencies in the Obama Administration announced a plan to end all homelessness through, Opening Doors, an unprecedented federal strategy to end veteran and chronic homelessness by 2015, and to end homelessness among children, families, and youth by 2020. In addition to the Continuum of Care grant program, HUD's new Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) Program made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is making a major contribution to the Opening Doors strategy. To date, HPRP has allocated $1.5 billion to prevent more than 875,000 people from falling into homelessness or to rapidly re-house them
if they do.

HUD's homelessness grants are reducing long-term or chronic homelessness in America. Based on the Department's latest Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), chronic homelessness has declined by 30 percent since 2006. This decline is directly attributed to HUD's homeless grants helping to create significantly more permanent housing for those who might otherwise be living on the streets. It was also reported in the AHAR that the number of homeless families increased for the second consecutive year, almost certainly due to the ongoing effects of the recession.

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on Twitter at @HUDnews or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD's News Listserv.